Australia has recorded another healthy trade surplus that beat expectations, fuelled by strong commodity exports.
The May surplus came in at $11.8 billion, above the $10.9 billion pencilled in.
Exports lifted 4.4 per cent off the back of a substantial pick up in non-monetary gold exports, which JP Morgan economist Jack Stinson said could be volatile month to month.
Other commodity exports also improved in May, including coal and iron ore.
Imports lifted 2.5 per cent over the month, helped along by a rise in new car imports.
Mr Stinson said automobile imports had also been jumping around a lot compared to pre-pandemic levels due to supply chain disruptions.
When accounting for the volatility in the May numbers, the economist said the result was strong in historical terms and pointed to an elevated current account balance for the June quarter.
